


Over the Moon

by EzraTheBlue



Series: Over The Moon [1]
Category: Saiyuki
Genre: AU - Modern, AU - single parent, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 09:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9714722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzraTheBlue/pseuds/EzraTheBlue
Summary: Gojyo had a lot of dreams. Most of them died when his daughter was born.He thought.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an anonymous Valentine's Day request for single parent Gojyo! No beta (sorry).

**Over the Moon**

Gojyo still remembered when he was in kindergarten, he was asked to make a list of what he wanted to be or do when he was twenty-two. He'd written something stupid, like, "Be an astronaut." As if Japan had a space program, and as if he were anywhere near as good at math as he had to be, or science, or physical fitness. Plus, no beer in space, which he only discovered was his thing when he got to his teen years. Still, even the teacher had said back then to think of other things he might want to be. Gojyo didn't remember what else he'd said. He was damn sure, however, that "be a Dad" wasn't on there.

Still, here he was, twenty-two and tying someone else's shoes every morning. He'd had a big "I'm totally only into girls, no homo, in fact I'll sleep with that girl right now" phase shortly after discovering that beer was awesome and after a night he didn't remember, he got a phone call from a girl he barely remembered, and a cell phone picture of another picture of what looked like a galaxy that had been taken inside of her belly. He'd tried to make things work with Hinata, but they fought all the time, in no small part because his "no homo" eventually revealed itself for "sometimes homo, especially when you're being a bitch" and a year after the galaxy that had brought them together became his sun, moon, and stars, Hinata vanished for college without a forwarding number or address and Gojyo was alone with what was now his universe.

He'd let any other stupid dreams he had for his future die the day his daughter was born.

The light of Gojyo's life was Hanabi, and sometimes, he still couldn't believe he'd made her. He remembered the day she was born every time he looked at her: he'd been seventeen and stupid, and she was two minutes old and tiny, fragile, delicate, and beautiful. She was also bald, floppy, and cried like a mewling kitten. She needed him, so he gave her everything he had to give. Now, she was still tiny (especially when she was hooked onto his long leg), but she was starting to look like she'd turn out lanky like him. Her eyes were big and bright, her hair had grown in the same dark red as his, her voice loud and cheerful, and she was so smart. Nothing like him. It'd been a weird sort of thrill to teach her to read her first easy books, to teach her to count on her fingers, his fingers, and her toes, and watch her learn to think. He'd quickly learned he had to pay attention to everything he said, because she listened, and she listened so well.

“Right, Hanabi,” he said as he tied her shoes on, “Big day today, yeah?” He finished tying one shoe, then moved to the next as she stomped her little foot and smiled with satisfaction as the lights flashing in the sole. She'd wheedled him into the fancy shoes, and had a way of convincing him to break his budget for her little whims because her smile was worth it. “You gonna be good at school?”

“Yes, Daddy.” She smiled with all of her teeth, just like he did. “I'll be good even if Yukkun tugs my hair. Even though you said if he ever did that again to yank his nostrils.”

Gojyo smirked and tried not to laugh. “Yeah, that's right. And if anyone messes with ya, you tell the teacher.”

“But you said--”

“I say a lot of stuff when I get mad.” He tugged her laces tight, then patted her little feet and stood and surveyed her. Her jumper was clean, no holes, no stains, her hair was combed into a neat part and tied into pigtails – today, because Gojyo had learned how to braid, how to pigtail, how to ponytail, all practicing on his own long hair – and she was smiling up at him. He always made sure his little girl shone before walking her out the door. “Just listen to the good stuff, no matter how you're feelin', right?”

She showed all of her little teeth and wrapped her hand around his. “Whatever you say, Daddy.”

Gojyo grinned to himself, then bent down and kissed her hand. “Let's get a move on, princess.”

It had taken Gojyo way too long to figure out a good way to arrange his life around Hanabi's needs. Hanabi came first, that was foremost in his mind, because he'd had shitty parents and his baby girl wouldn't live that, but putting her first meant providing for her needs and keeping himself afloat. He couldn't say he was doing right by her if they were living out of a cardboard box. Daycare was expensive, but luckily he had a brother who could watch her sometimes, and nowadays, the little old lady next door had a spare key and would mind her if he really needed her to. Gojyo had worked every odd job he could find, painting houses and fences, breaking strike lines to scab when the opportunity arose, and planning his budget down to the last coin in his pocket. Now that she was in kindergarten, he could work a regular job, but the best he'd found was as a bartender, working after her bedtime and into the wee hours. As such, he found himself yawning as he walked her to school, but she giggled and tugged his hand as he tried to walk a few steps behind her so he could smoke, making him stumble down into the crosswalk.

“So slow, Daddy!”

“'Scuse me, princess.” Gojyo straightened up but tightened his hold on her hand as they crossed from the apartment complexes in their part of town to the business district. “I worked late last night, y'know?”

“Aww, am I making you late for your nap?”

Gojyo rolled his eyes and chucked his cigarette butt into the gutter. She knew he slept while she was at school. “Sweetie, I gotta sleep some time.”  
  
"Hmmm." She spun around, pretending to think hard. "Maybe if you had some help, you could sleep more. Like... a Mommy?" She giggled. "Another Daddy would be good, too!"

Gojyo tried not to sigh. Hanabi didn't remember Hinata -- she was eleven months old when the bitch ran off, how could she? -- and she'd never questioned the fact that Gojyo was her only parent until she got to preschool and heard other children talking about "Mommy and Daddy." That night, when he tucked her in to sleep, she'd asked him if she had a mommy, and he told her the truth, as best he could: "Your Mommy thought it'd be better if I took care of you. So, you got me." Then, she asked if she could have a new Mommy, because the other girls at school had one so of course she wanted one too. "Ain't Daddy good enough?" He pretended to be sad until she cried and promised that she loved him and he was great, but:

"Aren't you lonely with just me?" She'd thrown herself onto his lap, and he'd had to think, not expecting the question.

"Well, sure," he'd said, and ruffled her hair. "Sometimes. It'd be nice to have a grown-up to talk to and to help me out. But most of the time, I'm as happy as can be just to have you."

She'd been satisfied with that answer at the time, but as she continued to watch, listen, and learn, she started to pick up on the concepts of love and marriage, and got it in her head that love was the best thing in the world and everyone should have it.

"Don't you wanna be in love, Daddy?" She asked, skipping over the white bars of the zebra crossing. He chuckled and took his time strolling along behind her. She spun around on her boot to face him, grinning with all of her teeth. "You said if we had a Mommy or another Daddy around, you'd have help! Then, you could sleep all morning and they could take me to school!"

Gojyo smirked and shook his head. "Face forward, hon. I don't want no cars or bears jumpin' out atcha."

"Daddy, there's no bears!" Hanabi laughed, and Gojyo laughed too, as if a happy noise could plaster over the hole his sweet girl was picking at.

Gojyo hadn't had the heart to tell her she was most of the problem. Sure, he was busy trying to fit work, sleep, and Hanabi in, but he still could make time to date if he wanted -- and he really wanted, shit, he was in his prime and had been single for four years. Still, every time he went out flirting, the second he mentioned "I have a daughter," any smiles or returned interest fizzled out completely. He knew he was still good-looking, still as charming in that rough-around-the-edges way women liked, but no woman wanted a ready-made family (just add wife) or a daughter that wasn't theirs. Flirting with guys was worse. If he mentioned he couldn't take a guy to his place so he wouldn't wake his little girl up, he'd get drinks thrown in his face, or at least told off for seeking out men because he couldn't get a woman. It was such a pain he'd hardly bothered trying for a while now. Maybe when Hanabi was grown up and moved out, he'd still be sexy and have a chance of finding another adult to be happy with. For now, it looked like it was just going to be the two of them.

The kindergarten classroom was all bedecked with white and red paper hearts, and Hanabi beamed with glee and pointed at some. "Daddy, I made that one an' that one an' that one! You want me to make you one you can give to a Mommy or another Daddy for me?"

Valentine's Day. Of course this was on her mind now. "I'm fine, sweetie. We talked about this." He crouched down to help her with her coat and hat, then tapped her nose. "Don't worry about me. We're just fine with the two of us, y'know?"

"Are you really?" She put her hands on her hips, puffing up her little chest, and he chuckled and poked her belly, making her laugh and deflate.

"I told you. Be good today, okay?" He glanced around her to the teacher, winking. "Remember, if you get in trouble and Sensei has to wake me up and make me come down here, you'll regret it."

She stuck her tongue out at him, then added a petulant, "Yes, Daddy."

"That's my girl. Love you, brat." He kissed her on the cheek, hailed the teacher with a wave, then traveled back on out the door as other mothers and fathers led their children in. One man was knelt down beside the door in front of a sullen, sad-looking little boy, talking to him gently and quietly, but Gojyo found his eye catching on the man for. He was a little older than Gojyo, with dark hair, glasses, and green eyes Gojyo could get lost in. The thought came to Gojyo that maybe another single parent might like him, someone who could accept him for what his life was because they understood too. Still, no point in wondering, and Gojyo shook the thought off as he walked away.

"A handsome guy like that's probably married." He repeated it to himself: "Me an' Hanabi are just fine."

She was the light of his life, the only guiding star he needed in his universe.

* * *

Dinner was usually grocery store takeout, but Gojyo made sure Hanabi's plate was full of veggies and that she ate her pickles. He dug in on his heated-up Salisbury steak as he read the teacher's report from Hanabi's backpack, with a list of her homework and a behavior report, denoted with a green, yellow, or red stamp. That caught his eye first. "Sweetie, why do you got a yellow mark on your calendar today?"

Hanabi didn't react, but shoved a big bite of eggplant in before answering, "I dunno."

"Mouth closed when there's food in it, kid." Usually, Hanabi got a green stamp, indicating good behavior. The occasional yellow stamp happened, and Gojyo wanted to know why. Gojyo scanned down the page for any written notes, and found one: _"Hanabi was shouting on the playground and made another student cry. She sat out for ten minutes and was kept away from the other student for the remainder of recess."_ "You shoutin' at someone?" Gojyo waved the paper at her over the table. Hanabi dabbed her mouth with her napkin and held her head up and back.

"I was usin' my outside voice! It's not my fault I was too loud for him." She crossed her arms, and Gojyo scowled.

"We don't make our friends cry. I don't wanna see any more of this." He sighed and looked at her homework. "Okay. Once you finish and wash your face, we're gonna do your homework, and then no TV tonight." Hanabi 'hmph'ed and crossed her arms, but Gojyo pretended not to notice her impertinence. "Tell me about the rest of your school day. Talk to anyone else? Any new friends!"

"Oh!" Hanabi got excited at this. "There's a new boy in the class! His name is Cho Shinobu. His Daddy came in with him. He's quiet and shy and a big crybaby but he has a big box of shiny new crayons and he shared with me when we were coloring our science pictures!"

"That's nice, sweetie." Gojyo chuckled. "Are you gonna be friends with him? Or is he your boyfriend now?" He grinned and wiggled an eyebrow at her, and she squealed with laughter and kicked his leg under the table.

"Uh-uh, no way! You said I can't have a boyfriend 'til I'm thirty! Besides, he's so quiet and sad all the time, I'd be so bored!" Gojyo took a bite of his meal as she continued to squeal and rant at him, smiling to himself with satisfaction.

Gojyo helped her with her homework after they cleared the dinner table, and then he read to her until it was time for him to go to work and for her to go to sleep. He hummed to her and petted her hair as she lay snuggled up in her quilt, until she settled into sleep. Then, he went to re-read her behavior chart again.

Hanabi had misbehaved before. Usually it was just things like talking out of turn or using strong language that she'd learned from him despite him begging her to never repeat it. Shouting wasn't usually her thing, not when she was angry. When she was angry, she got quiet and harsh like he did. She shouted when she got excited. This was new, so he knew he was going to have to watch for it.

* * *

The next day, Gojyo happened to catch sight of the handsome man with green eyes and glasses at the kindergarten pickup, and waved a little as he crossed his path. The handsome man smiled back, waved, and crossed past him to retrieve his son. Gojyo tried not to think about him after that, instead tightening his grip on Hanabi's hand like he always did and walking on.

Hanabi talked the whole way home about her new friend Shinobu, how he brought his comic books in and shared with her, and how he told her all about the beetles he could catch in his backyard in the place he'd lived before they moved. "Daddy, are there lots of bugs he can catch around here, too? I wanna go catch 'em with him!"

Gojyo, laughing, squeezed her hand. "Not in February, short stack. Too cold for the little buggies."

When he unpacked her bag, he found her calendar and another yellow mark, and groaned loud enough that she could hear it over where she was washing her hands. “Hanabi, we talked about this!”

Hanabi tried so hard to sound innocent. “Talked about what?”

“Actin' up in school!” He groaned, and read the teacher's note to himself: _“Hanabi was working on art projects during math class, took construction paper from the cabinet without permission.”_ He scoffed and slapped the paper down onto the table. “You know better. You're not supposed to just go for stuff! You gotta ask teachers, and you're only supposed to do art stuff during art time!”

“But Daddy--!” Hanabi stomped her feet, but Gojyo raised a finger and shushed her.

“Kiddo, you're too smart for this.” He put his hands on his hips and marched over to where she was standing. “I expect a lot better out of you.”

“But Daddy, you're the one who says that when it's important, you do whatever you gotta!” Hanabi shoved Gojyo's legs, then crossed her arms. “This is important!”

“What?” Gojyo cocked an eyebrow, daring her to go on. “What is it that's so important?”

“Mmmmhhh!” Hanabi whined and squeezed her eyes shut, rocking back and forth. Gojyo knew this was the precursor to a tantrum, but he fixed his hand in her hair and held her still.

“Cool it, kid.” He crouched down to look her in the eye, even as she teared up. “Hanabi, kiddo, you're my sun, moon, and stars and I love you very much, but you can't act up like this. They're gonna think I'm a bad parent.”  
  
"But you're not!" She shook her head, still sobbing, tears running down her cheeks. "You're just alone!"

"Is that what this is about?" Gojyo frowned. "That's got nothin' to do with you clownin' around in school. C'mon." He dried her eyes and nose on his sleeve. "Buck up. We both know you know how to do right. Promise me you're gonna do right by Daddy."

Hanabi hiccuped a few times, then nodded. "Promise."

He sat her in the corner and told her to stay while he went to the convenience store and back for dinner and put her to bed early. He didn't want to stay mad at her, but she could be such a pain sometimes. He read her behavior chart over one more time. Again, strange new behavior. She'd never done anything like this before.

As he stuffed the chart back into her pack again, he noticed a big red construction paper heart in her folder, then tugged it out and opened it up. It was a Valentine, obviously, with the message written in her clumsy scribble: "To Sha Gojyo, I Love You Love You Love You Lots!" The signature was off, but he could certainly recognize the "Ha" from her own name.

"My little girl wrote me a Valentine, did she?" He smirked and glanced back to where she turned over in her blanket. "I'll get her somethin' special for White Day. As long as she's good." He spared her one last glance, then left for work.

Maybe, if she was really good tomorrow, he'd forgive her. It would be Valentine's Day soon, and he didn't have a date. He might as well take his special girl out on the town. As pathetic as it was, he didn't have anyone else.

"I gotta do right by you, too."

* * *

 

Gojyo didn't think too hard about why Hanabi was quiet on the walk to school. He'd worked til three and it was way-too-goddamn-early-o'clock to be fretting over what sort of mischief his little starshine might be up to. He patted her on the back as they walked to get her attention.

“Hey, what'd you mean last night, when you said you actin' up was about me bein' alone?” He studied the back of her pigtails as she glared into the ground and shook her head no. “Hanabi, I just wanna find out what's wrong with you.”

“You don't even wanna find a new Mommy or Daddy for me, do you?” She sulked in every syllable, and Gojyo sighed and grabbed her shoulder, then turned her around and crouched down to her eye level.

“Sweetie, I told you. I'd be over the moon if we could find the right person to make our family bigger. I just don't think it's gonna happen.” He patted her cheek as she stuck her lower lip out. “Don't pout, kiddo. We're okay. We've made it this far, we'll make it the rest of the way.”

She clammed up again until they reached the classroom, leaving him to smoke at her side and study her, waiting for some clue as to what was going through that clever little head of hers. He kissed her goodbye at the classroom door, but held her gaze before he stood and left.

"Remember what we talked about. Do right by Daddy."

"Okay." She tapped his nose, and he fluffed her hair, then went home.

He tried not to think about it. He tried not to worry. He pulled the curtains shut and cozied up in the blankets to get a little bit of shuteye.

Instead of being woken by the "time to pick Hanabi up" alarm, he got woken by the phone ringing. He roused and answered with a raspy, "You best have a really good reason for wakin' me up."

"I apologize, Mr. Sha." Oh crap, Gojyo knew Hanabi's sensei's voice, even though it was pinched with bitterness. "However, Hanabi-chan has misbehaved for the third day in a row, earning herself a red flag. We thought it best to call you promptly for a conference, so maybe we can get to the root of her recent unusual actions."

Gojyo cringed and sat up, slicking his hair away from his face. "Crap. Ma'am, I am so sorry. I swear, I talked to her--"

"We can discuss this face to face. As you work evenings, I trust your schedule is open."

"Y... yeah."

"Then I hope to see you shortly." The teacher hung up without another curt word, and Gojyo groaned and dragged his fingers through his hair.

Red flag. Really bad. What had she done? He tried to bear off his panic as he found his pants and dressed, but the thoughts kept trampling through him. What was the school going to do about this? Kick her out? Call the cops on him for letting her act up? Shit, what was he gonna do?

The answer came to him at that: the same thing he always did. Make it work and fight his way through.

He was still zipping his jacket as he rushed down the sidewalk, but heard a voice calling from behind him: "Sir! Sir! With the red hair!" He halted on his heels and spun around to see the same man from Hanabi's school, his dark hair tousled and tangled against his forehead and around his ears by the frigid breeze. He was holding a black leather glove. "Did you drop this?"

Gojyo checked his pocket and found that one of his gloves was missing. "Yeah, must've." He met the man a few sidewalk squares back, and he passed him his glove. Gojyo put his gloves on, then grinned for the other man. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver."

"Ah." The man smiled, one of those shallow, wan little polite smiles that nobody ever means, and bowed a little. "It would be unfortunate for you to lose it. February is bitterly cold here, isn't it?"

"Always been that way." Gojyo shrugged. "You new in town?"

"We just moved in, yes." The man paused, then bowed again, a little deeper. "It's only polite to introduce myself to a neighbor. Cho Hakkai."

Gojyo bowed in return. "Sha Gojyo. Uh, as much as I'd love to talk, I have to go to the school for my daughter--"

"You, too?" Hakkai's brow raised. "I was just called about my son. We seem to be heading the same direction."

"Oh." Gojyo's stomach flip-flopped a little, and he took advantage of his own hesitation to take Hakkai in. He was handsome, thin but not skinny, his dark-rimmed glasses making his green eyes pop against his fair skin, and now that he meant that smile he was wearing, he made for an attractive portrait. His wife was a lucky lady. "Well, uh, if you'd like, we can go over together, Hakkai-san."

"I admit to being anxious; it'll be nice not to have to walk alone."

Gojyo and Hakkai left in tandem, Gojyo still looking Hakkai up and down a little every chance he got, as they walked on the path towards the school that Gojyo took Hanabi on every morning. "Are you in the same apartment complex as me?"

"I'm not, no; we're renting a house a block further down."

"Guess that's still close enough for neighbors." Gojyo chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have a car, so I live close to the school to make things easier for us."

"Ah, then, your wife has the car during the day?" Gojyo glanced to Hakkai at this question, and faintly realized Hakkai was studying him. He forced a toothy grin and imitated humor, hoping Hakkai liked what he saw.

"Jeez, do I look old enough to be married? I'm not." He turned away so Hakkai wouldn't see the little bit of pain that stung through him at the reminder. "My little girl's mom ran off on us before she was a year old. It's just been the two of us." His mind sprinted back to the Valentine Hanabi had hidden in her backpack, and he smiled wryly. "But that's just fine, y'know?"

"I see." Rather than withdrawing or scrutinizing Gojyo, Hakkai lowered his head. "I understand. That's... that's unfortunate."

"Nah, like I said, we're fine!" Gojyo dug his wallet out and flipped open to show Hakkai a photograph of him and Hanabi celebrating her third birthday, her smile illuminated by the sparkler on her cupcake, him leaned over and helping her put it out. "Me and her get along fine. She's gotten to the age where she's asking for a new Mommy, but, well, I told her it's not gonna happen."

"Ah, she does ask, then? Shinobu has, too."

"Shinobu?" Gojyo shook his head a little, then remembered that Hanabi had specifically mentioned befriending Cho Shinobu, who was always a little sad and very quiet. Hakkai, too, always had a somber note in his voice, and as he lowered his eyes and sought his wallet in his pocket, he barely raised his volume to be heard over the distant traffic.

"My son." He turned over a photograph of a young boy who looked almost exactly like him, glasses and all. "Though... not really."

"No?" Gojyo raised an eyebrow, and Hakkai hung his head.

"I don't speak of it often. He's, he's not mine." He dropped down to a whisper. "My sister, she's been unwell much of her life, and it seems he occurred due to a very unfortunate mishap. My sister could not and likely never will recover enough to take him, our parents refused to take him, but since they'd long since disowned me, I had no reason not to. I've raised him since the day he was born as mine." He laughed uncomfortably. "It's very difficult for a homosexual man with a son to find companionship, so much like you and your daughter, I've been on my own." He glanced to Gojyo significantly, sounding almost apologetic: "I... I don't usually tell people, but, you..."

"Your secret's safe with me. One single dad to another, right?"

“Y-yes.” Hakkai looked somewhat relieved. "I... I don't meet many other single fathers."

"Me neither." Gojyo chuckled, warmth blooming in his chest. Hakkai looked so strangely happy, but his contentment was beautiful. "Well, maybe you and me can talk sometimes. We're neighbors, and all, and we got stuff in common." He wouldn't mind seeing that smile a little more often. Hakkai didn't look at all displeased at the thought.

"I suppose it might be nice to talk to someone I don't work with or have changed the diaper of, as it were."

Gojyo laughed. "You can say that again."

They walked on, talking amiably. Hakkai revealed that he was a bioengineer who had just moved into town to come to his firm's main office, that he'd put himself through college with the help of a few friends to watch Shinobu and every penny in his savings, and that despite the long hours he had to work sometimes, he did everything he could to make himself available to Shinobu.

“He's my only family, you see.”

“I get that.”

It was refreshing to actually be able to gripe a little about Hanabi, how hard it was to make ends meet, how he had to do anything and everything under the sun just to keep shoes on her feet and ribbons in her hair. “But I do it, with a great big smile. She's my whole universe.”

“I feel the very same about Shinobu,” Hakkai agreed. “He can be difficult. He's so tremendously shy, it's hard for him to fit in. I feel like I must coax him into doing the littlest things, but when he does open up, it's tremendously rewarding.”

“Yeah,” Gojyo agreed, bowing his head. “Like when Hanabi says somethin' real smart, or shows me how smart she is. I love it.”

“We're fortunate to have such bright spots, are we not?” Hakkai laughed a little, and Gojyo laughed along.

They arrived at the school in tandem, leaving their shoes next to the tiny shoe locker for the little ones, and walked to the classroom together. They stopped in front of the classroom door, just able to see the shadows past the frosted-glass window Gojyo motioned for Hakkai to go first. “I can wait. From the way the teacher was talking, my girl's in deep.”

“Oh?” Hakkai frowned, pursing his lips with his hand already hovering towards the doorknob. “I'm not so certain. Shinobu's on his third day here, and his third day of bad behavior.” He shook his head. “It's terribly unlike him; he's normally so reserved.”

“Yeah?” This had Gojyo raising an eyebrow. “Funny, I'm pretty sure mine's been talking to yours. Maybe we ought'a go in together?”

“Yes.” Hakkai set his shoulders back and turned back towards the door. “Let's.”

Gojyo readied himself for chaos and pushed the door open, announcing, “Pardon the intrusion!” The classroom was empty, but for the teacher at her desk and their two children seated in tiny chairs right in front of it, Hanabi swinging her legs, and Hakkai's little clone, Shinobu, crossing his arms tight and shivering with her head hung. Gojyo put his hands on his hips as Hakkai entered behind him. “Alright, if my girl's grounded forever, I need to know why.”

The teacher stood, gestured to the classroom, and dryly stated, “Perhaps you can guess.”

Gojyo looked behind her and quickly figured it out: all the Valentine cards and decorations that had been hung on the wall were gone, torn down, leaving nothing but patches of tape and scraps of construction paper. There was no way Hanabi had caused this much trouble on her own without behind noticed. Hakkai, having put together the same, exhaled a soft, “oh, my,” then turned a too-friendly smile, like the grin of a hunting cat, towards Shinobu. “I see you've been very busy. Perhaps you have an explanation?”

The teacher approached the pair of them, eyebrows knit, and explained, “They've been at this together since Shinobu started here. From all of Shinobu's records, Cho-san, this is highly unusual for him, so we can only imagine the problem may be...” Gojyo nodded as the teacher continued to explain, but he also noticed Hanabi leaning over in her chair towards Shinobu and stage-whispering:

“That's your Daddy?”

Shinobu nodded, rasping back, “N' that's yours?”

“Yeah. An' they're both here!” And then, she moaned her relief: “FINALLY!”

Suddenly, both Hanabi and Shinobu jumped up and burst past the teacher, carrying a red-and-white paper chain, and they ran circles around Gojyo and Hakkai, looping them up together. The teacher jumped back and away as both children pulled out all of the purloined Valentine's cards and stuck them all over their fathers, leaving Gojyo and Hakkai cheek-to-cheek and covered in declarations of affection. Their task complete, the two children high-fived, as Hakkai petrified with confusion and Gojyo sputtered, before finding words to react:

“What the hell, Hanabi?!”

“See! See!” Hanabi pointed. “Me an' Shinobu both know you need another Daddy to make our family bigger, an' me an' him are friends, and you an' his Daddy are both lonely!”

Shinobu, eyes shining behind his glasses, tugged his father's pant leg and spoke in a voice that barely broke a whisper: “Hanabi told me Mister Sha is the nicest Daddy there is, Daddy, and I said no way, you're way better, but she's sure he's really nice. But her Daddy sleeps during the day, and you work all the time. We had to get you both here, this was the only way.”

“So, Daddy.” Hanabi pointed to Hakkai. “This's Hakkai-san. He likes boys like you do sometimes, and Shinobu doesn't have a Mommy or another Daddy either.” She motioned bringing her hands together. “So now you need to be friends!”

Gojyo gawked between the two children, albeit without making any more effort to untangle himself from Hakkai, especially because with Hakkai relaxing from his surprise, his body was warm, and since Gojyo had come to terms with being “kinda homo” that was pretty nice, really. “Wait,” he choked out, “you – both of you – pulled this off so you could get the pair of us here at the same time?”

Hanabi's big, toothy grin, a mirror to his own mischievous face, told him his answer. "I did right by you, Daddy." Hakkai was the first to react after that: soft laughter that shook his chest from the inside out, and Gojyo's heart melted.

Oh no, he really was cute and available. If only, Gojyo mused to himself with an inward grin, he were equally available, sexy, and completely taken with that smile.

“All this trouble just so the two of us might meet.” Hakkai twisted around in the bindings to face Gojyo. “I suppose we could discuss something like that over coffee?”

Gojyo smirked. “Coffee sounds nice.” He turned back to the teacher. “So, uh, do you think we've got it sorted?”

The teacher, bewildered, nodded and stepped back, shaking her head, and Hakkai loosed himself from the construction paper chain and turned to face Gojyo. “What a way to have a meet-cute.”

“You're tellin' me.” Gojyo planted his hand on Hanabi's head, and smirked down at her. “Told you you'd regret bringin' me in here, kiddo. It's gonna suck for you if both me an' Hakkai-san here end up grounding you on the regular.”

Hanabi giggled, but leaned into his hand. “That's okay. As long as you don't have to be lonely with just me.” She tilted her head back, her smile big and bright. “Are you over the moon, Daddy?”

Hakkai laughed softly as Gojyo picked one of the handmade Valentine's Day cards off of himself, then planted it on Hakkai's chest, smiling at his new friend – and possible maybe-more. “Like an astronaut.”

Despite it all, this dream could come true too.

 


End file.
